The mining sector will spend around $2.9 billion on private networking - particularly wireless broadband technology - in 2022, leading to strong opportunities for LTE vendors and operators, according to ABI Research.
The company predicts there will be substantial greenfield investment into private LTE and Wi-Fi mesh networks in 2019 and beyond as the market recovers from low commodity pricing hits over the past two years.
The mining sector is turning to wireless technologies to support driverless trucks, trains and drills in mines, helping to make modern mines safer, smarter, and more autonomous while improving cost effectiveness, according to ABI Research senior analyst Lian Jye Su.
“Mining companies are the actual pioneers when it comes to autonomous vehicles and private LTE network deployments. BHP, Fortescue, and Rio Tinto are currently running autonomous haulage and drilling in their iron ore mines,” he said.
“We believe that mining sector will be aggressive in deploying wireless technologies and this deserves the attention of LTE vendors and service providers. Diminishing revenue from consumer market forces LTE vendors and operators to explore business opportunities in other sectors such as mining. Aside from connectivity, they can offer value-added services, such as big data analytics, network security and edge computing.”
Dylan Bushell-Embling
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